Former Montreal Canadien Believes Club Could Acquire 2nd Overall Pick

The Montreal Canadiens won the 1st overall pick via the NHL Draft Lottery last month, but a former Montreal Canadiens player believes they have the assets to get the 2nd overall pick out of New Jersey.

TVA Sports‘ and former Montreal Canadiens Maxim Lapierre suggested that the Montreal Canadiens should do everything in their power to make a big splash with the NHL Draft at home by selecting both Shane Wright and Juraj Slafkosvky.

“With the Draft in Montreal this year, you need to make a splash. You have to go for the home run and get the two first picks,” said Lapierre during the 1st intermission of the Lightning-Rangers game on Sunday. “I know it’ll be complicated, but the team has a late 1st round pick (26th) and another at the start of the 2nd round (33rd). Trading that, along with a few veterans, to the Devils, who already have a ton of youngsters, would ensure the Canadiens don’t make a mistake at the top of the draft.”

Lapierre believes the Montreal Canadiens could likely get a deal done by offering some of the veterans on the roster, with the exception of a few notable untouchables.

“You have the pieces to make a deal work, so why not give it a try?” asked Lapierre. “You offer any player the Devils want outside of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Alexander Romanov to get the 2nd overall pick.”

Montreal Canadiens Don’t Have What Devils Want

Although the Canadiens do have a few draft picks they can dangle, along with some veterans on their roster, the fit doesn’t seem to be there for the two teams to make a trade. Montreal Hockey Now has received word from NHL sources that Devils’ general manager Tom Fitzgerald is not interested in some of the Montreal Canadiens’ most tradeable veterans like Jeff Petry or Christian Dvorak, and is looking for a top-line player or defenceman in any trade for the 2nd overall pick.

The Devils’ biggest needs at this time are top-6, goal-scoring wingers and a true No 1 goaltender. When you look at the Montreal Canadiens roster, the only player that fits the bill, outside of untouchables like Caufield and Suzuki, would be Josh Anderson. Unfortunately, as good as Anderson is for the Canadiens, it wouldn’t be likely that he would move the needle for the Devils as the main piece in any trade for such a coveted draft pick. A package of Josh Anderson, coupled with picks 26 and 33, is an attractive package for a club looking to get back into the top-10 of the NHL Draft, but it would hardly make any sense for the Devils. Should the Devils keep the pick and select Slafkovsky, he could jump into the NHL starting next season and would likely be able to provide what Anderson does in short order.

Unfortunately, if Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki are off the table, as they rightfully should be, there isn’t much of a basis for a trade involving both clubs for such a high draft pick.